the thaw table

1949 EVENTS OF THE THAW Between 1949-61 approx. 2.7 million E.Germans fled to West most of them using Berlin as a route outThis embarrassed Moscow and undermined its legitimacy 13th August 1961-Led to construction of Berlin Wall 1950's and 60's USSR was still able to exercise their power over Finland when they 1950 felt it was being threatened 1953 East Germany: following Stalin's death the Soviet leadership began to adopt a more moderate and less oppressive system of governance Lavrenti Beria, a potential leader of the USSR proposed reunification Germany However Walter Ulbricht, the dictator of communist East Germany was still a dedicated Stalinist, and had no desire to liberalise or unify his country. Begun programme of Soviet-style industrialisation to increase the speed of socialism. However workers' began striking to show their anger at these changes These strikes gradually escalated into a nationwide uprising against communist rule in June 1953 Soviet troops required to restore order with roughly 25,000 people being arrest and 400 executed 1953-61 The space race-informal competition between US and USSR to launch unmanned satellites, send people into space and land them on the moon Officially began in 1955 when both the USSR and USA began building missiles to help launch objects into space USSR launched the first ever space satellite Sputnik In response Eisenhower administration created NASA (1958), an agency responsible for the civilian space programme In January 1958 the US successfully launched their first satellite (Juno I rocket) US Air Force began a program to launch a man into space but they were beaten by USSR on the 12th April 1961, who were the first country to put a man into space 5th May 1961 the US launched the first American into space 20th September 1963, at a speech at the UN General Assembly, Kennedy proposed that the US and USSR should join forces in their efforts to reach the Moon­Khrushchev initially rejected the proposal 1st Nov-USA detonated their first hydrogen bomb in the Pacific Ocean 25th Jan-18th Feb Berlin Foreign Ministers Conference-Included French, British, US 1954 and USSR Wanted to discuss Korean War, Indo-China war with France, European Security (specifically a unified Germany) and the future of Austria with a peace treaty Little progress was made except in Austria as Russia agreed to withdraw troops but only if it remained neutral Geneva agreement was agreed upon April-Eisenhower's `Domino Theory'-if Vietnam fell to communism others surrounding it will soon follow 18th-27th June Guatemalan coup d'état-covert operation carried out by the CIA tha removed the democratically elected President Jacobo Árbenz and ended the Guatemalan Revolution

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September-`Domino Theory' promoted formation of SEATO (South East Asian Treat Organisation), a military alliance between US and countries of SE Asia1955 14th May Warsaw Pact-formation of Pact was driven by the USSR's desire to dominate central and Eastern Europe, wanted to spread his Communist and Social ideals over a large spectrum and emerge as the global leader of the socialist movement 15th May Austrian State Treaty- treaty establishing the Second Austrian Republic as an independent state.…read more

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There was a bloody coup that toppled the pro-Western government of Iraq. This led to a dispatch of US marines in Lebanon 23rd August-Mao's forces started shelling the offshore islands of Quemoy and Mats in the Taiwan Strait. These islands had been claimed by Chiang Kaishek's nationalist forces after he lost out to Mao in the Chinese civil war. US thought this might be a prelude to an attack on Taiwan which the US had pledged to defend Taiwan.…read more